Editing Pyromancer: The Shining Domain (section)

==The Way We Are Now==

For those at the top of society, the status quo is pretty good. There may not be much in the way of civil liberties, but the wealthy and influential make their own rules and enjoy the luxuries created by industry and society. Technology has advanced in leaps and bounds in the last year, and a combination of tailored narcotics, pyros-engineered foodstuffs and cheap servant labour means that those that live in the clean white light of the upper spires can enjoy a life of privilege and luxury.

For everyone else, life is grim. The wealth divide between the richest and poorest is extreme, and there is no concept of social justice or equality. Healthcare, education and legal protection are privelges to be paid for. If you want light, heat and the necessities of survival you have little choice but to work for the Guilds, and as the Guilds are regulated by no-one but themselves (so long as they pay taxes to the heriditary nobility of the Church) they have little interest in worker wellbeing. An average wage-slave can expect to work a sixteen hour day six days a week, then have eighty percent of his income confiscated to pay for the living costs of being in a Guild-controlled habitation. He'll have barely enough to spend on the smallest of luxuries, and even then those luxuries will have to be bought from Guild Traders from his own guild or an affiliated one. The Guilds aren't so much about the creation of wealth for society as they are about control and maintaining the status quo. With control over light, heat, food and water, the Guilds effectively hold a knife to the throat of the average man. Work, or die. Obey, or die. 

To rebel, one must become a criminal, and the Guild has resources aplenty to combat crime. The organised crime syndicates of the ''Hadar'' have strong links to the authorities themselves, so working with them is little better than working for the Guilds themselves. Any free agent needs either extreme luck or especial talent to survive on his own...


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